The real stories from inside the F1 paddock

A round-up of tittle-tattle

In the paddock at Interlagos there is a distinct end-of-term feeling with everyone looking forward to the final race, but also to the fact that come Monday the F1 season will be over and there will be some time off for many in the circus. The racing season has run for eight months, and the first tests began almost 10 months ago. There is now two-month break before the 2013 testing gets underway in the first week of February.

One thing that no-one is expecting to see next year is the HRT team. This is dead. The team is going through the motions this weekend in Brazil and there are even some fears about parts, but once the race is over there is no future. Most of the staff have already been laid off and while there is some talk about potential buyers there really is nothing to buy. The entry is worth nothing, the factory is leased, the intellectual property might have a value if someone wanted to buy the design and build it somewhere else, but that would require an existing company with the capacity to build F1 cars and that would still require a pile of money and there is no sign at all that Formula One Management wants more than 10 teams. From what I understand there is also an impending legal action against HRT from Toyota Motorsport GmbH, relating to a deal that was struck in 2010 for the German-based organisation to provide the Spanish team with chassis and other technical support for 2011. The deal is believed to be worth somewhere in the region of $25 million a year and Toyota started recruiting staff for the project before it was suspended when the Carabante Family, which then owned the team, failed to pay.

The driver market is now largely done. Romain Grosjean will be confirmed at Lotus, Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber and Valtteri Bottas at Williams. That means that the best drive available is at Force India, where the second drive is up for grabs. The team is looking for money and there is a long list of drivers who say that they have cash. One name that has popped up a lot is that of Adrian Sutil, but he a strange problem to consider, notably his ability to attend all of the 2013 races because of his criminal conviction from Germany. This is definitely a problem with Canada and could be a problem with both the United States and with China (where the crime occurred). The odd thing is that Sutil is supposed to have backing from Lenovo, which is a Chinese computer company, although the relationship with Sutil is with Medion computers, which was a European firm bought by Lenovo.

It is believed that Jules Bianchi and his supporters can raise around $4 million but Bruno Senna is probably able to raise $10-12 million and thus that would be better for the team, which should be OK financially thanks to TV money but may need some budget topping-up because of the lack of money available from Kingfisher Airlines. If Vijay Mallya is smart he will have included a sponsorship deal of some kind in his deal to sell United Spirits to Diagao, in order to keep the team running at the same sort of level. Mallya is talking about investing $80 million in capital expenditure on the team.

The option for Senna is to go to Caterham which is also looking for cash to make up for the TV money that will be lost if the team ends the year behind Marussia, as is currently the case. Senna would be a good fit with the team, but there are also talks going on with Charles Pic, Giedo Van Der Garde and with the two 2012 drivers. Marussia is going to keep Timo Glock and the signs are that Max Chilton could get the other seat although there might be pressure for the team to take a Russian if Vitaly Petrov does not stay at Caterham.

The F1 world is waiting to see the result of the alliance between Chelsea Football Club and Sauber, which was announced earlier this year. There has been speculation that this could be Chelsea’s shirt sponsor Samsung. A new deal between Samsung and Chelsea was a few weeks ago was for the 2014 and 2015 seasons and is believed to be worth in the region of $28 million a year. My sources at Sauber say that this is the not the deal that will be announced.

Elsewhere Force India is still flogging a dead horse with its legal action against Aerolab and Caterham. The cynics in F1 believe that this is simply an appeal that is designed to delay the payment of legal fees.

Elsewhere in court, it is worth keeping an eye on Renault. The Court of Appeal in Paris declared this week that it is not competent to judge on an action brought against the French State by the heirs of Louis Renault, the company founder. They are seeking compensation for the nationalization of the company in 1945. The firm was confiscated by the state three months after Renault’s death. He had been accused of collaboration with Nazi Germany. The heirs argue that the government had no legal right to take over the company and want money.

Elsewhere Luca di Montezmolo has finally launched a new centrist movement, with the aim being to create an electoral platform for Mario Monti to remain as Prime Minister in elections that are due early next year. Montezemolo believes that Monti is the best candidate to lead the national reconstruction, which is interesting. What it will do is give the party a platform that Montezemolo could use in the future.

Elsewhere engineers at New York’s Stony Brook University have won an award for their work on an innovative energy harvester that converts the irregular, oscillatory vibrations into regular, unidirectional motion, which can then be used to generate power. The system has been designed with trains in mind but could perhaps be used in road vehicles as well, creating a new kind of KERS.

Elsewhere, in Korea, the Grand Prix has announced a loss this year of $36.4 million. This is in addition to losses in the first two years of a similar and larger scale. The locals hope that the F1 event can produce benefits to offset the losses.

I, for one, get where Louis Renault is coming from. More than half his countrymen collaborated. On the flip side, the French government should be congratulated on their successful stewardship of Renault all these years.

As usual, a great “keeping abreast” digest. Thanks.
I find the Stony Brook energy harvester especially interesting. My Citroen 2CV has a stack of irregular oscillatory vibration. I have visions of boosting to a massive forty horses!

Adrian can apply for a ‘Minsters Permit’ to gain entry into Canada. It’s usually approved for tourists if applied for long in advance (4 months) and for sports personalities which seems not to have been a problem in the past considering we have an NBA team locally… The main issue we seem to have for border entries is drug convictions, (ask any rock star!) and neo-nazi UK political types. I mean we let that creepy Conrad Black – or sorry, ‘Lord Black’ back into Canada so a glass throwing issue shouldn’t be worth a ban in my view.

If it’s true that Kobayashi is out at Sauber in exchange for a wad of cash and an unproven Mexican – and I suspect it is – it doesn’t reflect very well on the team or the sport in general. One podium to Perez’s three doesn’t tell the whole story, as Kamui is only eight points behind, and has had both some storming drives and has claimed all three of Sauber’s best grid positions this year.

Clearly, it’s not a good time to go digging for sponsorship yen in Japan – though the yen goes farther these days than ever – but he was the first Japanese driver to earn a place in F1 on merit, without sponsorship cash or manufacturer orders, and he’s far more entertaining to watch than many who may remain – Bruno Senna, for example, or his hothead wreck factory of a teammate.

I will say, however, that two Mexicans in F1 could go a long way to improving the popularity of the sport in the US. Only perhaps next time, the broadcast rights will go to Univision or Telemundo…

Mate, drivers having to bring money to teams is nothing new. It’s just been more necessary and prevalent since the global financial crisis four years ago. I also lament Kobayashi’s situation, as he’s undoubtedly the best F1 driver ever from Japan (although I disagree that he’s the only one who made it in on merit. Takuma Sato made it in because he was British F3 champion, and I saw him blitz the field in Macau that year. Fantastic driver, but unfortunately wasn’t successful in F1, despite Honda backing. But he did get in on merit and deserved a drive.)

The fact is, Japan’s broke. It’s no longer the world’s second-largest economy, and its manufacturers aren’t putting money into motorsport like they once did. As such, poor Kobayashi has been left out in the cold. It sucks, but that’s life.

The rumour is that Honda may return in 2014, due to the new engine and cost-saving rules. Let’s encourage them to do so, and to give Kamui a race seat, because if anyone can win a championship for Japan, it’s him.

The only difference with modern F1 is that the money comes from other people rather than rich parents. If anything, today’s pay drivers are probably more talented than the daredevil dilettantes of yesteryear.

If you are on about a team. I have a sneaky suspicion that Honda to F1 rumours was merely politicking to persuade Dorna to give Honda more leverage again with the rules. i.e the electronics saga going on. I wond if Mr Saward has anything to say?

If an engine supply i would be surprised if one, they will be allowed to do a ‘Nakajima’. or even if they want an ex Toyota man has the Japanese Driving Representative.

Absolutely agree that F1 has long been pay to play – but rarely so high up the grid. It discredits the sport, and eventually fans are going to look elsewhere. Just sample the vitriol on twitter right now.

As for Sato, he was more talented than previous countrymen, but Honda dropped him in his seat. In fairness, Toyota did the same with Kamui before they folded, but Takuma never drove an F1 car without a Honda engine, and he never scored more than a single podium even in the BAR 006, which was the best of the rest in ’04. That’s as bad as Felipe Massa this season!

Saddest thing is there aren’t any young Japanese prospects coming down the pipe – this is really game over.

What nippondrive says. A +1 there. Cautionary note: like being a perma – bear on the market, you just never know what will tap out your positions, and if things rise, possibilities dramatically change.

On the driver front do you know where GP2 Champion Davide Valsecchi may end up next season?

I was hoping he might get an Indy Car Drive as there is likely going to be a race held in Italy in 2013. Even that series now day’s requires a driver to bring substantial sponsorship (not as much as F1 of course).

Guess he will end up being a spectator just like Giorgio Pantano and Luca Filippi. Don’t know why Italian drivers even waste their time and money racing in GP2.

Sorry, Joe, one more – I just saw on Twitter that Kobayashi has posted a link (only in Japanese) that directs fans to a site with information on how to donate to help cover the amount Sauber is demanding he pay to retain his seat – they’re accepting donations only of ¥10,000 (roughly £76) and higher, in excahnge for which they will receive a wristband.

The site states that he “had thought a place in F1 could be guaranteed by results and hard work, but has found that it now comes with a price attached.”

He doesn’t guarantee that he’ll win the place even if he gets enough money, either, which is fortunate.

The page is also linked from the news section of his home page, seen here:

Much as I admire Sutil, I don see him return in F1, especially not at the team who kicked him out in the first place. Then again, stranger things have happened.
I really like the Bottas announcement, I think he has a great future and will be very difficult for Maldonado to beat (on a regular basis).
And, as another poster said about the Italians, GP2 proves to be the wrong way to get into F1. Only the ones with solid F1 deals in their pocket before entering GP2 can promote from there, it seems.

Why would Force India not give Karthikeyan a test role and appoint Sutil as a racing driver? The races Sutil would not be able drive because of possible visum trouble (about which opinions seem to differ) and the Indian GP Karthikeyan could replace him. They would get more sponsorship money (Tata), get an experienced test driver and work on their Indian identity.

“The (Korean) locals hope that the F1 event can produce benefits to offset the losses.”
That’s like hoping for rain at the Abu Dhabi race.

The rats are jumping ship over here (we met one of the higher-ups that is), and I bet you won’t hear anything about the track or management changes either, at least until next year.

I’m ecstatic that Texas was such a success. In the beginning I was hoping the same for Korea, but as soon as I found out where the track was going to be built I lost all hope…
At least I have a few more years that I’ll be able to see a race in-person. Hopefully the new drivers will add even more excitement to make 2013 better than an excellent (the best?) 2012 season.

That’s because that region understands hosting big events-they have the winter Olympics in 2016, and are a major ski destination.
It’s still going to be a bear to get there. The 50 freeway can be murder on Sundays.